Fortnite's guns fire less at lower framerates, but Epic is fixing it

PUBG, it turns out, isn’t the only battle royale where the fire rate of weapons is seemingly affected by framerates. Because it shares an engine with Fortnite, streamer DrLupo decided to run some tests, confirming that the framerate can reduce or increase the rate of fire in Fortnite, too. Epic is aware of the issue and is investigating a fix. 

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This is not the first time the issue has reared its head, however. A Reddit thread from last year goes into a lot of detail about how the framerate affects the fire rate with and without buffs, based on how quickly the magazine is emptied. 

There are some inconsistencies, and different guns produce different results, some creating wider disparities in the fire rates. What’s clear is that there’s a fire rate cap if you’re playing at 30 fps that results in players dishing out less damage they would at 60 or higher. 

On PC, the issue is less prevalent because players are more likely to enjoy higher framerates, but players on other platforms, like the Switch, don’t have the same benefits. It will still have an impact on your matches, however, even if it’s a small one, since PC players can still compete with players on other platforms. 

Cheers, Eurogamer.  

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Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.